From: Susie Watts <
heffs@onetel.com>
Hello all
As you probably know, Taiwan has a whale shark fishery that is currently subject to an annual quota of 60. Co-Habitat has been working with the Life Conservationist Association of Taiwan (LCA) to get the fishery banned and on our last visit we got an agreement in principle from the COA to end the fishery, but with no fixed date. LCA feels that a statement of concern from as many organisations in as many countries as possible would be appropriate and timely at this stage, just to keep the pressure up. We really hope that there will be a ban this year.
I therefore attach a statement of concern [see below this email] and I'd really appreciate it if you could endorse it. What I'd like would be the name of the individual signing, the name of the organisation (or educational establishment) and the country in which its main offices or headquarters are based. Please send your reply to me at
heffs@onetel.comIf there are organisations/scientists/conservationists who are not on this list (apart from members of SSN, who have received this separately) and who you feel would be interested in signing on, please feel free to forward this on.
Please note (and ensure that anyone you may forward this to is also aware) that putting the whale shark on the Schedule of Protected Species will mean a domestic ban on sales of whale shark meat. There may be some NGOs that are not comfortable with this. The main reason for asking for it is that the huge volume of meat on sale cannot be accounted for by the annual quota, which means that large amounts are being smuggled in. The Minister himself has pointed out that monitoring, regulating and tracking the meat in domestic trade would be
prohibitively expensive and complicated and that putting it on the Schedule would actually be much simpler.
Many thanks
Bye, Susie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT OF CONCERN FOR THE WHALE SHARK
FOR THE ATTENTION OF HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT CHEN SHUI-BAN OF TAIWAN
Endorsed by X organisations and expert individuals from X nations
Mr President,
We, the undersigned, invite you to join the global effort to protect the whale shark, the largest fish in the sea.
Taiwan is the world’s biggest consumer of whale shark meat, not only from sharks caught by Taiwanese vessels but also from illegal imports of meat into Taiwan. Known as “tofu shark”, this meat is widely eaten in Taiwan and is readily available from street vendors and in restaurants.
Whale sharks are a long-lived, slow-growing species. Their lifespan is estimated at anywhere between 60 and 100 years; females could take up to 30 years to reach maturity. Because of this, the species is very vulnerable to depletion and may take many decades to recover from over-exploitation.
Whale sharks are classified as Vulnerable by the World Conservation Union and the species was listed on Appendix II of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2002. This means that international trade in the species and in its products is subject to strict regulation. In the past, Taiwan has taken the highly commendable step of implementing CITES decisions and, on occasion, of enacting even stricter domestic measures, despite not being a Party to the Convention. However, since domestic sales of whale shark meat are totally unregulated in Taiwan, there is no way of knowing whether the meat on sale in Taiwan is from locally-caught animals or from illegal imports.
We appreciate that your government has taken the decision to reduce the annual quota of whale sharks from 80 in 2002 to 60 in 2006. However, the scarcity of scientific data on whale shark abundance means that we cannot know whether or not this is sustainable: continuing decreases in the average size of whale sharks being caught in Taiwan suggest that it is not.
Whale shark fishing is banned in seven countries. Some countries have, instead, established whale shark tourism as a way of generating income from the species. According to Taiwanese research, the average annual income from Taiwan’s utilisation of whale sharks is currently $US500,000 but, as populations continue to decline, this income will also decline. By comparison, Australia earns $US55 million annually from whale shark tourism. The Seychelles, Belize, the Philippines and Mexico also earn millions of dollars between them from visitors keen to see this magnificent animal in its natural habitat. In total, 18 countries have a whale shark watching industry. We understand that Taiwan recently hosted an international workshop to explore the feasibility of whale shark tourism in Taiwan. We encourage you to pursue this further and to benefit from the experience of others in establishing best practice.
Satellite tagging has revealed that whale sharks travel many thousands of kilometres: a whale shark tagged in Australia undertook a journey of 2000 kms, and another individual is known to have travelled from the Gulf of California to Tonga, a distance of 13,000 kms.
Mr. President, the whale shark is a truly global resource. It belongs to all of us. We therefore urge you to prohibit the killing and landing of whale sharks in Taiwan, whether caught in Taiwanese or international waters, and to enact legislation to ensure that all whale sharks caught incidentally are released. Furthermore, we request that you place the whale shark on the Schedule of Protected Species, thus affording it the highest possible domestic protection.
We thank you.
